You know what they say: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But what they don't say is that while a straight-up glass of old-school lemonade is one of summer's best drinks, sometimes, getting a little "twisted" is just what you need.

Robb Garceau, Executive Chef at Great Performances, an award-winning catering company in New York City, shares three of his "unusual" recipes with HealthySELF, below. But first, his tips for both cutting the calories and serving up extra-delicious lemonade this summer:

- Use more herbs and less sugar — they’re more nuanced and bring out so many different notes of flavor in spirits and ripe citrus. Your drinks will actually taste more well-balanced.

- Try honey or agave — these natural sweeteners aren’t granular like sugar, so you can make drinks faster this way.

- Go seasonal — infuse ripe fruit in your sugar base (if using one). Seasonal fruit has so much natural sugar that adding any other sweetener is many times unnecessary.

- Lemonades are great for the young ones, but you can easily make a grown-up punch by adding rum, vodka or other spirits to any lemonade recipe.

- Using larger ice cubes keeps the lemonade cold, but they melt slower than small cubes, thus avoiding natural dilution of your concoction.

- Use garnishes when possible — they add color and a fun visual element to a pitcher or glass, and also continue infusing natural flavors into the lemonade as you drink.

Cool, refreshing lemonade is definitely on everyone’s brain as the weather gets warmer — Yahoo! reports that searches for “how to make lemonade” are up 57 percent. SELF has a great low-sugar recipe here (secret ingredient: applesauce!) and a tasty spiked gingerade recipe (made with lemons and caramelized ginger — yum!) that’s only 70 calories. And here are three of Garceau’s favorite “unusual” recipes:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and then remove from heat. Add the jicama flowers, agave nectar and 1/4 cup mint. Steep for one hour and strain. Pour into a pitcher and add the lime juice, remaining 2 cups water and remaining mint. Stir and serve over ice. For an alcoholic version, add 1 oz. vodka per person.

In a small saucepan, bring the honey, sugar and water to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the lemon verbena leaves. Allow to completely cool, then strain.

Add the watermelon chunks to a blender, and puree until smooth, then strain. In a large pitcher, combine the honey/sugar syrup to taste (approximately 1/4-1/2 cup), watermelon juice and lemon juice. Stir to combine and serve over ice. Garnish with a lemon verbena leaf.

Frozen Pineappleade

Serves 4-6

7 oz. fresh coconut water (available at health food stores)

8 oz. fresh squeezed orange juice

1 cup diced pineapple

1/3 cup honey

1 oz. St. Germaine (elderflower liqueur)

3 oz. white rum

2 cups ice

1 orange, cut into wedges

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and frothy. Serve in a chilled glass immediately and garnish with an orange wedge.